


True Covenant

by SecondaryVulpine



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Blood and Injury, Covenants, Deal with a Devil, Demon King!King, Demonic Possession, Demons, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Luz Noceda Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecondaryVulpine/pseuds/SecondaryVulpine
Summary: Amity, at one of her lowest points, receives an offer that promises convenience through power that will give her everything she ever wanted. This decision is met with resistance from the person she least expected, sending her down a path that leaves only destruction in its wake.Luz is faced with a moral dilemma that will make her choose between her life in the Boiling Isles and her future on Earth, and whether tossing her own future away for a friend that gets more and more unfamiliar by the day is worth the sacrifice.The Empire watches as the New Queen comes for the Old King's crown, a long-ended war dividing its people centuries once more.or: Villain!Amity AU with a lil AU!Luz twist.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Boscha/Willow Park, Edric Blight/Jerbo, Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	True Covenant

**Author's Note:**

> I got permission to use some ideas from the Villain!Amity AU made by Kohlnsss on Tumblr, so please go check out their wonderful art!
> 
> The briefest amount of demon research went into this, but in the end, there were a lot of creative liberties taken just so you guys know. 
> 
> EDIT: I started writing this before ‘The First Day’ and considered rewriting it once it came out, but I’ve already committed to the ‘detention track kids worked extra credit to prove they care for their education’ vibe I was going with.

Amity crept through the halls of the Blight manor, boots and bag in hand so that her heels didn’t click loudly against the floorboards.

She learned the trick from her older siblings who had long since mastered the art of being a practical ghost in their own home, showing her the spots where it was the easiest to sneak past their Father’s office.

Alador Blight’s office was situated right at the corner near the stairs down to the main lobby, a purposeful move as to know the comings and goings of his family. The man had his hand in every major business transaction in the Isles, and this desire for control extended to his family life as well in the form of strict, stern authority.

She could hear the telltale scratch of her Father’s quill against whatever official document he was sending off, usually something that leaned in the Blight family’s favour. Listening to the fervent sound of his writing, Amity slid her socked feet across the spruce wood floorboards. 

Word after word, Amity slowly made her way past her father’s office, trying to remember the map of not squeaky flooring her siblings had described to her. Making it past the ajar door, Amity let out a shaky breath through her nose in relief. If she remembered correctly, stretching over to the opposite side of the hallway would get her out of here quietly.

With a delicate leap over the middle of the hall, her heart dropped at the loud creak her weight had caused. She didn’t remember correctly, her shaking frame halted at the worst possible sound.

“Amity.” Alador’ voice emerged from the room, loud and commanding as if he were right in front of her.

“Sorry for the noise Father,” her hand gripped the front of her cloak in an attempt to calm herself. “I’m just heading to school.”

Her ears caught the light sound of the tip of his quill being tapped against the glass of an ink bottle, a moment of silence following. The man hummed, the tone completely indifferent despite the shivers it sent up Amity’s spine.

“Do try to _succeed_ in your studies today girl,” she swallowed a lump in her throat. He hadn’t forgotten her letting the top student badge slip from her grasp over Willow’s abomination -read as Luz- result in class. Explaining the situation did nothing, all Alador heard was that she wasn’t the best despite all the circumstances. 

“You have to excel as long as you want to live under my roof after all.”

Amity was sure it was an empty threat, who else would he and his mother project on if they chucked her to the curb. Though at this point, she wished she had somewhere else to go. The overbearing expectation was definitely becoming too much, like a weight on her chest as she struggled to suck in a breath.

She almost felt dizzy from the stress of standing there, and she wished that it would all just be over. Oh to be in the Emperor’s Coven right now, with their Empire provided accommodations and Lilith to calm her soul. 

But that something for years to come, unless she could somehow manage to make leaps and bounds in her magical performance. Amity was ahead of her peers sure, but she wasn’t Coven material yet.

“Of course Father,” she shakily relented. Turning to leave, Amity looked over her shoulder before descending the stairs. “I love you.” She quickly added, letting her fingers trace the wood banisters for a moment whilst she waited for a response.

There was a moment of silence, then a hum and with a scratch, Alador returned to his writing. 

A quiet sigh escaped her as Amity started walking down the stairs, blinking a couple of times to soothe the creeping burn that tempted her eyes. Crying over her lack of parental compassion was so nine years ago, she reminded herself.

She should be used to this by now like Ed and Em were, but she wished more than anything to come home to a house that didn’t feel so cold and uninviting. Her father was right in a way, she had to put in the effort in school if she wanted to move on from the Blight Manor.

Slipping on her books and opening the door, the warm morning sun touched her cheeks in golden rays. Sucking in the breath air, Amity struggled up a smile. 

Amity can make it through all this, definitely. 

* * *

Lilith’s long nails raked through her hair, sorting any stray strands that tried to misplace themselves as she watched two coven officers carry in a sizable amount of books into her office. She kept up her cool air, nodding to her desk whilst inwardly loathing the amount of pages each book held.

“Put them on my desk and consider yourselves relieved from this post for the evening,” masked faces turned to look at each other as they placed the piles of books atop the wooden surface of her desk. “Sensitive texts from the Emperor’s private collection are privy to myself only, and I won’t have you two accused of violating any rules whilst on post outside my door.”

“Of course High Priestess, we’ll be at the estate entrance if you require any assistance.” Both moved to leave the room, nearing the entrance when suddenly Lilith snapped her fingers.

“Oh right, before you go.” Robotically, they halted. “My apprentice will be arriving for her lessons later on in the evening. Let her enter without trouble.” As soft-spoken as she was, anyone worth their salt in the coven knew a veiled command when they heard one.

Without any spoken word, the coven officers stiffly saluted and left the room, leaving the coven leader alone.

With no audience there to judge her, Lilith let her shoulders slump and groaned childishly. She dragged herself over to her desk, falling into her chair dramatically. Between the two stacks of old leather books was the cause of her frustrations, a letter addressed to her directly:

_High Priestess Lilith,_

_I contact you in regards to our newest student ‘L.’_

_Despite not physically capable of performing magic, L has displayed the ability to recreate the same results through glyphs of some sort. I have seen nothing like it in my lifetime and due to her relation to a person of your interest and their_ history _within our school, I humbly request your assistance on finding the relevant information from the Emperor’s Library on such spellcasting._

_As of currently, magic circles are capable of countering her spellcasting, however, I wish to be prepared in case our standard spellcasting isn’t enough for stronger glyphs. None of the literature in the Hexside library, nor my personal collection, touch on this subject._

_I would submit this as an official request through the Emperor’s Coven, however, I know the traditional investigation procedures would require a background check on said student, which does not suit your current interests in her guardian. So I shall consider this a personal favor._

_I look forward to hearing from you soon,_

_Hieronymus Bump._

“Bump you absolute-,” Lilith cursed under her breath, snatching a book from one of the piles and flipping through the pages. Waving Eda’s safety over her head was a dirty tactic, she thought spitefully as she scanned through the contents of her current book. Years under his tutelage gave him too much ammunition against her, but she’ll be sure to set him straight after this ‘favor.’ 

With nary a single glyph on its pages, Lilith set the book aside with a sigh. Requesting access to books of this nature was difficult for even her, the first Emperor putting them under lock and key during his reign. Time had skewed the reason why, as the librarian in charge was simply told that it was a command older than the witch herself. A rule unbroken for as long as the Empire stood.

Lilith called it a simple interest in their land’s history, managing to convince the coven librarian that a stack or two wouldn’t be missed and that it couldn’t be in safer hands. Pulling another book in front of her, Lilith’s lithe fingers grazed the red leather cover’s title.

Belial, written in runes and seemingly engraved with a gold that refused to dull despite all its years in the Emperor’s possession.

A gorgeous cover, Lilith mused before skipping through its pages, but absolutely useless. Turn by turn, the paper held nearly all blank pages with only the first page used. A single ‘hello!’ held the center position on the parchment, an old diary of sorts maybe?

Lilith snapped the book shut, how did a _journal_ of all things end up in the restricted section of the Emperor’s collection? If all these books held little to no information on glyphs, she was going to make her former principal wish Edalyn’s pranks the worst he got. 

Sucking in a breath to calm herself, the witch gently set the book near the edge of her desk. While searching through an empty book was a waste of vital research time, at least she has a new journal!

This attempt at renewing her mood worked for a solid second before she returned her attention to the stacks of books she still had to get through. Lilith’s face scrunched up into a grimace, moving her gaze to a table at the far side of the room.

Staring wistfully at a decanter sat atop it, perhaps a drop of the isle’s finest will make the process a little less painful. 

* * *

Luz’s first few weeks at Hexside was a wild ride for Amity.

They had both looked forward to it initially, with their few meetings in Amity’s hidden nook in the library. Luz had excitedly absorbed any information Amity provided her to survive her first semester, duly taking notes upon notes of the abundant material that Amity had to offer.

While she felt bad for thinking it, Amity really didn’t think of Luz as, well, academically inclined. But no, the girl was sponge. Though it might have been just a motivational thing, Luz seemed to fixate on anything as long as it had the slightest connection to something she vaguely liked.

The witch had high hopes for the girl both as a student and as a friend. Luz seemed genuinely driven to succeed in Hexside, which Amity was thrilled to support. To have a companion that related to both her personal interests and academic efforts was all Amity could hope for.

A more childish part of herself imagined the two of them as the powerhouses of the school, constantly competing with each other just to spur themselves to give their all into every subject -With Amity winning every time, of course. Public rivals that would sneak off giggling to their hideout, reading their favourite book series together and sharing gentle, tender moments only two sweethearts could have.

Amity shook her head vigorously, dispelling the juvenile thought. Her cheeks flushed slightly, making her lean on her desk and hide her face in her arms. She didn’t need such romanticized notions, especially considering how Luz’s first few weeks _actually_ went.

Luz had somehow managed to get into trouble before she could touch bases with Amity on her first day, landing herself in the detention track. It was Shakespearean levels of tragedy, as the only reason the detention track existed was because of Luz’s own mentor.

Turns out hundreds of magic-related incidents and pranks have long-lasting repercussions.

Detention track was on a completely different floor than her own abomination track, with its main focus on rehabilitating rowdy students whilst covering basic universal track subject content. To emphasize the importance of straightening out rebellious students, the use of magic was strictly forbidden.

Amity could only assume Luz was heartbroken over this, as she didn’t get to interact with the girl at all over the first week and a half that the human was enrolled in. The only time she even saw the girl was when Amity looked over the balcony to the floor below, spotting Luz frantically carrying a box full of alchemy ingredients whilst following one of her teachers.

A part of her wished she had called out to her from her spot above, to maybe shout a few words of encouragement. Alas, that would draw attention to her and she knew for a fact that Boscha would have a few words to say about her getting ‘all gal-pally with the human.’

To be fair, Boscha had a lot to say about everything. It was what Amity was pretty much ignoring right now whilst she hid her face in her arms.

“So I said to him, ‘it’s either you botched this potion or you bathed in werewolf spit this morning.’ Didn’t take him long to admit that he ruined our potion with wolf saliva,” Boscha cackled. “I, of course, got my full marks since I knew what went wrong and how to fix it!”

Satisfied that her cheeks weren’t obviously red anymore, Amity lifted her head to look at the girl next to her. She shared a class with the Potions student, mainly since alchemic ingredients were a major aspect of how the creation of Abominations worked. Sludge was surprisingly finicky when it came to what it's made of, so naturally, Potions professors were the go-to on the finer teachings of alchemic reagents.

Amity hummed, watching the girl pack away her books and quills. “What’s your next class?” Boscha huffed, slightly unhappy that her story got no meaningful response.

“I have a cultivation class in the greenhouse,” Boscha slung her bag over her shoulder. “Guess I’m stuck with weepy Willow the last class of the day. You?” Amity gestured up to the chalkboard where the chalk had begun levitating, writing out the words ‘Application of Cantrips.’

“Cantrips, Lilith recommended I start looking into them in-depth so I took it as an extra class.” Boscha scoffed, folding her arms as the students started filling the classroom again.

“Really Amity? What use are Cantrips to the Emperor’s Coven?” Tucking her hand under her chin in a haughty manner, she looked down at Amity expectantly. “We both know cantrips are like, baby level stuff.” 

Uncomfortably, Amity laughed, resting her chin on her hand with as sophisticated an expression she could pull without letting her displeasure known. Lilith was not only a respected witch, but her mentor. So to hear someone not even close to her mentor’s level discredit her words, it was difficult to react as smoothly as she would usually.

“Teacher’s orders.” The young witch chuckled out, waving as the girl had begun to walk backward to leave. Boscha’s third eye winked cheekily, her own chuckle joining Amity’s as she spun in time to avoid walking into the door frame.

As soon as the girl left, Amity exhaustedly slid her arms down, laying her head on the cold table again. Boscha always managed to find a way to bring her mood even lower than it already was, somehow always finding some remark to kick her while she was down.

She heard the chair next to her scrape against the floor, indicating her new deskmate had arrived. Stifling a groan and gathering the last bit of energy she had left, she lifted her head with a polite smile.

“Hello th-” 

There sat her friend Luz, looking as tired as Amity felt. Her uniform was covered in what looked like ectoplasm, hair wildly askew. The sight cut off her sentence, nearly forcing a laugh out of Amity. 

Luz’s eyes playfully narrowed as the witch covered her mouth and turned her head away, her face quickly going red.

“Why hello Amity, what seems to be the matter?” Luz leaned in closer with a fake snobbish tone, eyebrows raised comedically making Amity’s attempts at stifling her laughter. “Is there something on my face?” Giving up, Amity removed her hands from her mouth to shove her away. “My teeth?”

When Amity’s laugh finally hit Luz’s ears unfiltered, the human joined in and let herself get pushed back to her side of the desk.

“What, haha, what happened to you?” Amity huffed out her last few laughs, straightening out her uniform’s cloak. “Didn’t Principal Bump forbid you from attending magic classes?” Groaning in response, Luz slumped back in her seat with a hand on her head.

“It took a lot of extra credit Amity, and we’re going to leave it at that.” Luz sighed, raising her hand and grimaced at the amount of ectoplasm slathered on it. Wiping her hand on her pants, she summoned a large smile. “But even cleaning out the ghost horse stables was worth being able to practice magic! Though, I don’t think Jerbo and I can ever unsee what we saw...” 

Leaning forward and ignoring a majority of the details in that sentence, Amity smiled into the palm of her hand. “Well, it’s too bad you only managed to get permission just now, Cantrips isn’t the most thrilling of classes.” Luz waved the statement off, her hand flicking small globs of ectoplasm around.

“Please, cantrips can mean life or death in any adventuring campaign. In a way, these kinds of spells are probably the best to start for me.” Amity opened her mouth to ask what she meant, only for another voice to cut in.

“Extremely well put, Ms. Noceda.”

With a loud snap of someone’s fingers, the ectoplasm that clung to Luz abruptly pulled itself from her uniform. In moments, all the dirt and grime Luz had earned from her hard-work had gathered into a floating ball before disappearing with a pop.

“Prestidigitation,” Luz whispered with giddy amazement. Amity shot her another confused look, her eyes darting from the space the spell was just a moment ago to her human friend. 

With a clack of heels, the attention of the class was promptly grabbed by their teacher. The middle-aged man, though you wouldn’t be able to easily tell this from his baby face, strode from the door with a natural air of confidence.

Subtle crow’s feet wrinkled around the teacher’s elated eyes, pointing at the human with a piece of chalk with a crooked smile.

“Right again Ms. Noceda,” the chalk in his hand was plucked from his fingers and floated over to the board. Under the bold letterings of the class’ title, the chalk cursively wrote ‘Mr. O. Hearty.' “I was hoping to tell everyone what the spell was myself, but whatever.”

Luz smiled sheepishly up at him, reaching into her bag to grab a copybook as he just chuckled at her and moved his attention to the entire room.

“As your classmate said, Cantrips are probably the most important spell type when it comes to both daily and adventuring life.” Quickly, he gestured to the chalkboard. “And I will be the one teaching all about the magical world of Cantrips, you can call me Mr. Hearty.”

A few students mumbled a greeting while Luz started scribbling down the beginnings of her notes. Amity was already doing the same, but still couldn’t help but look at the girl approvingly.

“Now, the Bard Coven will probably be the second most flexible in terms of types of magic, since Cantrips are technically _not_ spells.” Some students behind them whispered words of surprise, even Amity raised her eyebrows. Not that she wasn’t going to dump the thoughts of the Emperor’s Coven and suddenly become a bard, it was nice to know there was some level of flexibility. Even if she wouldn’t take that option.

“Cantrips are minor magic tricks, and are therefore categorized as ‘theatrical.’ Which yes, of course, the Light spell is ineffective for most combative purposes and as such is a parlor trick. _But_!”

With a shot, the chalk from the board zipped down the center of the classroom and made all the students snap their heads to look at where it went. After a moment of nothing happening, they turned back to return their attention to their teacher.

Who had all of the front row’s copybooks gathered in his arms.

With a laugh, Mr. Hearty opened his arms, letting the books float back to their owner’s desks whilst he relished in the oohs and ahhs that came from a few kids in the room. “A distraction is an item retrieved, a blade unsheathed, or a life saved. And Cantrips, even ones as minor as the light spell, can be used as a distraction.”

He pointed to the student on the far right side of the room. “That’s why we’re going to see who can make the brightest light spell with the smallest spell circle, just a little competition to see who might be in the running for top cantrip student.”

The student that Mr. Hearty pointed to got to work casting their spell circle, meaning that Amity and Luz were just a few people away from having to perform. Amity leaned back, a simple light spell no matter how bright wasn’t something to start scrambling for her spellcasting textbook.

Instead, her eyes wandered to the human beside her. Childishly sticking her tongue out, Luz got to work drawing out the smallest glyph she could with her blunt pencil. The witch sucked in a breath as she felt her cheeks warming again.

Too cute. 

“Since you’re _preoccupied_ ,” Amity jumped at the voice that abruptly tore her from her musings, wide eyes met an amused Mr. Heary, who moved his attention from the witch to the human and the scribbled glyphs next to her. “Ms. Noceda, let’s see if your practical knowledge matches your theoretical knowledge.”

“Sure thing Teach!” 

Luz blew on her small sheet of paper, letting the lead residue fly off to show off her neat yet bluntly lined glyph. Amity peeked at the design, the lines were thicker than how Luz would usually draw them. 

Both the witches stared at the paper as Luz gave it a quick tap, making them both regret their decision to look directly at it.

The lines glowed brightly as the paper collapsed in on itself, producing a ball of light that glowed a decent luminosity until suddenly, it flashed to a stunning level of brightness. Amity, along with everyone else in the room, shut their eyes in painful response as the light spell left them visually incapacitated. 

“Luz!” Amity cried out, covering her eyes as the spell still managed to sting at her eyes through her eyelids. 

“Wup! Sorry, sorry I got it!” Luz blindly pawed for the ball of light and once she felt the warm feeling near her palms, cupped the spell with both her hands like she was catching a firefly. “It gets brighter the more ink or lead you draw with, but I think I went a bit overboard.” The human laughed out nervously, blinking away the white dots in her eyes as she tried to regain her vision.

Mr. Hearty chuckled along with her, his hand moving from his eyes while the students around them mumbled in a mix of both annoyance and begrudging respect. “I asked for the brightest light spell Ms. Noceda, no need to apologize for going beyond my expectations.”

The human’s apprehensiveness from nearly blinding the entire class slowly melted away to an approaching delight, beyond his expectations? A wide smile crept onto her face, peeking at Amity beside her as the teacher continued. 

“Truly spectacular work, that was expert spellcasting. I haven’t seen that level of light spell produced by a student in a very long time, well done.” Luz swallowed down a happy squeal, but couldn’t contain herself from waving her hands around.

“Thanks, sir!” 

Amity pushed down a smile of her own as the teacher motioned for her to cast her spell as well, a smidge of pride making itself known. Of course, Luz would do well in this, light spells were her bread and butter, she could expect nothing less from someone who she thought of as her friend.

Blights only associate with the strongest of witches after all. 

Twirling her finger, a purple spell circle form and connected, popping out a bright purple orb in its place. Though its brightness didn’t sting as much as Luz’s did, it still made a few students groan again in frustration as they covered their faces. 

Amity’s stomach twisted sickly, it didn’t seem all that bright to her. Maybe it was because of the different colour, the purple might be a bit softer on the eyes? Mr. Hearty squinted at the spell and with a hum, nodded thoughtfully.

“Very good work, Ms. Blight.”

Amity’s blood ran cold, and it felt like all her senses were stolen away from her at that moment. Just good? That couldn’t be right, she respected Luz’s result but Amity has been practicing magic for _years._ She couldn’t be outdone by a beginner, let alone outdone in casting a light spell of all things. A baby could cast it!

Luz elbowed her with a sly grin, still riding high on her fantastic result judging from the gleam in her eyes. Unknowingly taunting Amity as she whispered, raising her hand for one of her human rituals. “Look at us, best in class!” Amity’s shoulders shuddered, biting her lip to stop some sort of snide remark from slipping out. 

Her heart thumped painfully against her chest, what was she thinking? She was literally just proud of her friend’s spellcasting and now she’s cursing her results a moment later, what was wrong with her?

Something clicked in her head, the vivid memories of this same behavior before. And for a brief, blissful moment, Amity’s frantic thought slowed down to a simple answer to her sudden frenzied demeanor.

Ah, she’s spiraling. 

Figuring that Amity was going to leave her hanging, Luz lowered her hand with a hint of concern. “Amity, are you feeling alright?” Leaning for a closer look, Amity hoped the girl didn’t notice how fast she was breathing out of her nose. 

“I-I,” the witch gulped. Looking down at her desk, the slowly dimming light spell flickered its purple glow a couple more times before dying out atop of her books. 

A _decent_ light spell would last longer than that if not snuffed out by the caster, it would glow brighter, it would be better than what she had done. 

It would be better than Luz’s.

Luz couldn’t even get a word out as Amity jumped to her feet, words cracking as the chair toppled over behind her. “I have to go.” The witch bolted from her desk and out the door, leaving the class agape at her loud escape.

“Amity!”

Luz called after her, but to no avail as she watched Amity turn the corner and runoff. Mr. Hearty snapped his head to the exit, quickly walking over to the door to see where the witch had gone. Scanning around, he shook his head and shut the door, shooting a silent command to Luz who had stood up from her desk to leave as well.

Slinking down into her seat, Luz worriedly stared down at their desk. She had left all of her stuff behind, the human gulped down a lump in her throat. Grabbing Amity’s bag off the floor, Luz began to pack away the abandoned items with a single thought.

What happened?

* * *

There were times that Lilith recognized Eda as the stronger of the two. 

They were matched in magical strength, though Lilith would like to think her mastery over spells was a bit more refined than her sister’s brutish multicasting. Lilith aged better, obviously. But there was one thing that Eda had over her.

Handling liquor.

It was barely half a glass and Lilith felt like a ditzy trophy wife by the time she had finished a stack of her research, though the cheer from the alcohol made the reading easier. She was overly happy at her whole _two_ books worth of results, which she’ll thank the whiskey for now rather than in the morning during her hangover.

Her cold hands cupped her flushed cheeks, the heat soothed by the chill feeling. Today’s lesson will be a short one, maybe an hour and some spells to practice at home. Her protege wouldn’t mind, the girl seemed to want to leave as early as possible as of late, though Lilith didn’t know the true reason why.

She would say she was meeting a friend, but the older witch wasn’t in a position where she could test the validity of the claim. 

The doorknob behind her clicked, making Lilith hurriedly push aside her thoughts in an attempt to gather herself up into a somewhat presentable state. Straightening her shoulders and lips, she turned to look at Amity with as composed as an expression as she could. 

Amity stared up at her, eyes red and shoulders rising with each heaved breath, the appearance was enough to collapse whatever composed exterior that Lilith had garnered for that brief moment.

“Amity,” Lilith breathed out, crouching down slightly to meet the eye level of her student. “What happened? Wait no-” Lilith quickly spun a circle of blue light in the air, its completion causes a spare chair to float hastily behind the young witchling. “First off, sit down and take a moment.”

Amity obeyed the command, shakily lowering herself onto the chair as Lilith summoned her own to sit across from her. Looking down, she rubbed at her hands nervously as she sucked in a few deep breaths to calm herself.

Her hands were pried open, Lilith pushing a tissue into her palm and closing them around the thin sheet with a gentle pat afterward. Whispering a ‘thank you,’ Amity patted her still wet cheeks dry and continuing to breathe deeply for a few more minutes before finally croaking out some words. 

“I’m sorry,” Amity crumpled the tissue in her small hands and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I meant to call you to say I wasn’t um,” in any emotional state to function at this point in time? “I wasn’t able to attend due to homework but I left my crow at school…” She trailed off, before bringing her hands to her face with a groan. “With all of my stuff, damn it.”

Lilith blinked, glancing on the clock on the wall. School had ended a while ago and their classes were arranged in a way that she wouldn’t be in too much of a rush after school to come to the Clawthorne estate. There wasn’t much of a time-related reason that Amity would have to leave her belongings behind.

Judging from the state of the girl when she arrived, it was obvious that there was something weighing on her either mentally or emotionally. Neither of which Lilith knew how to deal with, the feelings of children was never her strong suit to begin with, even when stone-cold sober.

Like Amity, she was totally unprepared for dealing with this emotional teenager. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Lilith said slowly, gathering up the right words to use in this situation. Business formal will have to do. “I appreciate you coming in person despite you being upset, it was very thoughtful of you.”

Amity sniffled, but did seem somewhat soothed by her mentor’s words. “And while I would love to send you home, I feel inclined to ask if you um, want to talk about it?” She watched as Amity seemed to weigh the option in her head, dreading both a yes and a no.

A yes meant she had to deal with the highly sensitive emotions of her teenage apprentice, a no meant she was sending off an obviously distressed child to deal with these feelings by herself. Lilith had no idea what to do, she was a spell caster, not a parent.

She wasn’t exactly the best person for that job.

“I’m good thank you,” Lilith sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth, damn it. “I think just sitting here with you was enough, it seems I just needed someone to cool me down.” Before Lilith could say any word of objection, Amity had already stood up from her chair and begun straightening out her uniform. 

“I’ll take my leave then, for my homework!”

“The homework you left at school?” Amity’s hands froze in their spot at the edge of her gray tunic, a heavy sigh escaping her. There goes that lie, the young witch thought. 

“Yeah, that homework.”

Lilith grimaced, she wasn’t really in any position to force the girl to talk about her feelings or make her stay here in general. Especially if Amity left her supplies at Hexside, leaving their lesson slightly unprepared for.

Not that Lilith hadn’t already planned for today to be a rather short lesson.

Her mind wandering to the thought of school supplies, her brain sparked a fantastic idea.

“Amity, you like to journal your thoughts don’t you?” A hesitant nod brought her a wave of relief, making her reach behind her blindly for the book she had set aside. Thankfully, she had grabbed the discarded red book on the first try and held it out to the witchling.

Amity gently lifted the book out of Lilith’s grasp, gold eyes reflecting off the shiny gold lettering inscribed on the cover. “I found it mixed up with some research material, only one page has been used.”

“Ms. Lilith, this is gorgeous! I-,” the girl’s pointed ears drooped. “I can’t accept this…” Lilith waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh pish posh, I want you to have it. So unless you’d like me to pull rank, you’ll do as you’re told, dear.” She winked playfully, sparking a cheerful gleam in her protege’s previously teary eyes. “And maybe once you’ve gotten what’s bothering off your chest onto those pages, you and I can have a chat over tea on one of your free days?”

Amity’s arms wrapped around the book, hugging the gift close to her chest as she mustered up a weak but happy smile. 

“Uh yeah, I’d really like that Ms. Lilith.”

The older witch beamed back at her, bringing herself up to stand before Amity. Placing her hands on her shoulders, Lilith fixed the girl’s cowl.

“Would you like me to escort you home?” Amity paused, considering it for a moment before shaking her head meekly.

“Thank you, but I think I’ll head to Hexside to grab my stuff before it closes. I’m pretty sure someone would’ve handed my bag up,” it was more so genuine hope that no one would have destroyed them by now but whatever. 

Her mentor’s smile strained slightly, but she relented. “If you’re sure,” Lilith would’ve preferred the girl have a lift home but then again that whiskey did hit her harder than expected. And the scandal that would come from being caught flying under the influence with a minor aboard didn’t really make her feel like pushing it. “But please be careful, you’ll head straight home after Hexside yes?’

The girl responded with an odd smile, looking at the floor awkwardly.

“Of course.”

* * *

“No Hooty I didn’t run away,” Eda’s ears pricked up to the muffled sound of her apprentice at the door. She amusedly cradled her glass of wine from her spot on the couch as the exchanges outside her home continued. “Even if I joined the circus, I couldn’t be the _lion_.” Hooty replied, obviously something even more incredulous cause the door swung open with Luz looking extremely tired met Eda’s gaze.

“I’ve had too much of a day to explain to a door why I don’t want to dress like a furry,” the door swung shut behind her with a ‘geez, hoot!’ Luz tossed her bag aside, trudging over to the couch -avoiding King’s sleeping form that lay near it- and collapsed against it. “Sometimes I don’t want to come home specifically cause I know Hooty’s here, is that bad?”

“Nope! That’s just you getting more and more used to living here,” Eda lifted her hand and fixed a few wild locks of hair that strayed from Luz’s chaotic mop of hair. “How was today’s adventures of being in the bad girl track?”

Luz laughed as Eda brushed some hair behind a ticklish part of her ear, but nestled further into Eda’s hand when it moved to rest itself atop her head. “I finished the last bit of extra credit work before the last class, so Bumpkis gave me the okay to practice magic now. Turns out Amity’s in my Cantrips class, so that’s cool.”

“Bumpkis, nice.” Eda snorted into her glass, removing her hand to tug at Luz’s gray uniform sleeve. While she felt bad that her old antics led to the creation of the track, she was glad to see that she left a lasting impression on that stuffy old academy. “So what track are you in now, shouldn’t they have changed these by now?”

The human stretched her arms up, letting her fall sideways and land her head in Eda’s lap. “Nah, detention track doesn’t have a specified subject, so it suited me and the others to just pick classes that we want to do rather than pick one track.” Luz paused, looking up at her mentor with a sly grin. “Besides, detention track is so much cooler.”

Cackling, Eda smacked Luz’s shoulder and probably spilled some wine over the side of the couch in the process. “Damn right!” As she took a sip from her glass, her eyes caught Luz staring off into the distance. “Anything else happen today?”

Luz sighed, reaching down to the floor to scratch the fur tucked beneath King’s skull. “Nothing really but, Amity was acting super weird after I did my light spell.” The demon stretched in response, stirring slightly but not waking up. 

A bottle of wine floated to Eda’s glass, refilling it dangerously close to the brim as she hummed in response. “That Blight kid wouldn’t act weird over _just_ a light spell Luz, obviously there’s something else going on. C’mon.”

Chewing on the thought, Luz’s eyebrows furrowed while she recalled the class events. “Well, the class had to do a light spell one by one and our professor judged it by the brightness compared to the size of the spell circle.”

“Mmhm,” Eda slurped in response as Luz continued.

“It got to me so I showed him mine and he said that it was a really high level! Amity did hers next and he said it was good as well, then-” Eda gulped down what was in her mouth, raising her hand to get Luz to stop rambling on.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on.” Luz’s mouth snapped shut and her brown eyes peered up at her mentor, watching Eda wipe her mouth with her wrist. “Was it that the teacher called both of your spells high level or did he specifically call Amity’s ‘good?’”  
“Uh,” Luz thought for a moment. “Good, I think. Why?” Eda rolled her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. The teen was extremely smart at times, quickly catching up on knowledge that a sixteen-year-old witch should know in record time for her first semester at Hexside. 

Though it was painfully obvious that Luz was severely lacking in the finer points of understanding people.

“Luz, your friend is obsessed with being the top student. If you, a human new to magic, got a better result than her, a witch honor roll try-hard, what do you think her reaction is going to be?”

Eda could see Luz’s brain firing up, taking in the question, and applying it to every field of knowledge she had. The witch waited, counting the ticks of the clock on the wall before Luz’s eye lit up with realization.

“Oh!” The light faltered, and her expression fell. “Oh…” Eda held back a laugh at the girl’s expense, the drop from intense thought to melancholy would’ve been funny at any other time. But the witch knew the human well enough by now to know she was probably feeling awful for what she had inadvertently done to her friend.

And Eda was right, Luz’s stomach churned awfully as she chewed on the thought. There she was walking up to Amity thinking her friend would be on the same level of satisfaction for their results, completely forgetting that the young witchling’s need to be a top student.

Amity’s older siblings did explain the reason why, well, they alluded to it at least before changing the subject immediately. Something about their parents expecting a lot from the three of them. It was a sentiment that Luz did relate to in a way, what with not being able to match up to her Mother’s expectation of ‘normal’ behavior.

A hand combing through her hair broke Luz’s stupor, Eda’s long nails scraping against her scalp soothingly.

“Kid,” Luz looked drearily up at her mentor. “It sucks that the Blight kid got a bit uppity about your result, but you can’t be feeling bad for casting a good spell.” 

“I guess,” Luz really didn’t know if she could feel happy about it anymore. Regret had already latched onto the thought, claws sinking deep into any sort of pride she could have for her little ball of light.

“This can’t be the first time that Amity’s been in the second spot,” Eda continued on, straightening up in her seat and setting her glass aside. “And if I know anything about her parents, this can’t be the first time she felt bad enough to sprint out of the room either.”

With a pat to Luz’s head, Eda gave her one final comforting smile. “As bummed out as Amity is right now, she’s smart enough to think about the situation and not make any rash decisions like stop being your friend. Okay?”

Eda was right, but a part of Luz still stirred worriedly. It was an unexplainable creeping feeling of uncertainty, like somehow she knew not to believe that Amity wouldn’t do anything in response. But to have that feeling with no reason was baffling, so Luz pushed it down.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

* * *

Hexside was sadly empty by the time she arrived on campus, with Mr. Hearty’s absence preventing her from apologizing from her outburst in class and to ask about the fate of her school books. The latter was answered with a piece of paper stuck in her locker’s teeth, Luz’s handwriting scrawled on it.

_‘couldn't open your locker, it kept hissing at me >:( will drop your books to hideout since it’s the weekend. hope you feel better <3 love, Luz xx’ _

It was a charming little note that warmed her cheeks but ultimately reminded her of her behavior from earlier, dampening the sweet mood with the same guilt from earlier. The guilt only got worse as she entered her hideout, making her promise with Lilith to go straight home after Hexside a complete lie. 

Not that she planned on going straight home when she made that promise anyway.

The bookcase behind her creaked as it closed, sealing Amity away as she plopped at her desk with a sigh. The library was near to closing, but she couldn’t go back home just yet. Her skin was still crawling from the anxiety spike from earlier. 

Being with Lilith always calmed her down but for some reason, today was the worst she’s ever gotten. Maybe the fact that it was such a minor class that her average result made her feel even worse than it would usually.

Another sigh racked her body, she knew exactly why her panic had irrationally spiked.

She felt bad that she didn’t congratulate her friend for her good result, if she could even call herself Luz’s friend after what happened. What kind of person was she to just run as soon as the bell screamed, to not even talk to her deskmate for the rest of class?

Amity looked down at the red journal in her hands, the gift from Lilith in an attempt to lighten the young witch’s mood. The book’s timing was perfect, its appearance perfectly aligning with her finishing the last few pages of her other journal. Now she can freely write away any dwindling feelings that remained from the day's events without worrying about space. 

“What should I start with today,” she hummed as she flipped over the red cover. “My issues with being overwhelmingly mediocre and pretending that I’m better than everyone else cause I practice every minute of my life, or my conflicting feelings I’m having for my friend-” Amity was about to stop her sentence there but flushed and choked.

“Friend’s results. I meant, conflicting feelings for my friend’s _results._ ” She rushed to finish her sentence before she realized that she was in fact alone, who was she trying to convince? Herself? 

Amity wanted them to be close rivals, and in fairness, she got her wish. Luz seemed to be excelling, the only times she fell short was when her human knowledge conflicted with witch knowledge, causing a conflict when the human tried to summon up the right answer.

But the idea was that Amity would win out in the end, narrowly winning in a way that Luz would never get bored of her or stop trying. Today’s light spell, however, while innocuous to most, grabbed her by the neck and throttled her back to reality.

Luz’s unique way of spellcasting obviously produced real results, and it was only a matter of time before she surpassed Amity. Eventually, the human would get bored of her high strung behavior and relentless attempts at being the best, probably leaving her for a more low-maintenance friend.

And then Amity would lose her one chance at being happy.

“Who am I kidding, she wouldn’t stay with someone like me…”

The witch stared down at the first page, a prewritten ‘Hello!’ already scrawled in the center of the parchment. Shaking her head, she leaned over the desk to grab a quill from her cup of stationary, a single word wasn’t going to make her skip an entire page.

With the instrument in her hand, Amity returned her attention to the book. The tip of her quill searched for the ‘hello’ from earlier, going to tie it in with her entry, saving wasted space with a ‘hello diary’ or something. Except as she glided along the page, the word was gone and more appeared in its place.

_Aw, I’m sure your friend wouldn’t leave you! I bet she even feels the same way._

Amity blinked, the shock that racked her body really not showing as she eyed the page. Sentient objects weren’t all that rare, Boscha’s father made his fortune on enchanting cauldrons so that they would self stir. In fact, there were books that would notate spoken words.

More words began to print onto the page, and they made Amity’s head tilt more.

_Who wouldn’t like a powerful witch like yourself?_

The flattery didn’t make her any less surprised. 

“I’ve never heard of a magical object that could output genuine responses to the user's words…” Amity set her quill down, cupping her chin in her hand as she watched the journal reply once again.

_I’m not technically a magical object, I actually sealed myself in this book. So I’m a… Person object?_

A million questions popped into Amity’s head, she had never read about sealing someone into an object. You could prewrite a spell and apply it to something, but to combine something as precious as a soul to something? It was unheard of! She was about to settle for ‘what’s your name’ for her first question before she remembered the word on the cover. 

“Are you,” she quickly checked the cover. “Belial?” A tick appeared on the page, like a teacher correcting an answer on the test.

_Exactly right Ms. Blight! I am Belial, Crown Prince of the Deep Isles._

“I’ve never heard of the Deep Isles,” Amity responded sharply. “Nor have I heard of any monarchy in the Boiling Isles.” As interesting an item this book was, she wouldn’t be falling for tall tales of kings and queens when the Isles has been an empire for as long as history was written.

_Ah, lost to time, my friend. Kingdoms fall, empires rise. Tales I’m sure you’ve already read about._

“No,” a blunt reply came from the witch. “There hasn’t been even whispers of a throne in the Boiling Isles ever in its history, let alone any books on one.” 

_Wouldn’t be the first Empire to burn a library to rid their descendants of its contents, I’m just lucky to have survived this far. I have a lot to teach the next generation after all!_

“Usually the Empire prides itself in the preservation of history in all forms,” Amity thought to herself out loud. She hadn’t heard of such things as book burnings happening, but she supposed if they struck the record, there was no way she would know about it. “What do you mean by you have a lot to teach?”

_Well, as the Prince, I naturally had troops to lead. I’d embolden them with as much power as I could, and then, of course, teach them how to handle all the power they suddenly had. There are methods to handle great power in a short time._

“Embolden? Like magically enhanced?” The book turned a page by itself, readying a fresh page for its reply as Amity watched. There weren’t many spells to increase magical capacity in a witch, it all came from dedicated practice and decent breeding when it came to bile sack size.

_Yes, but on a permanent level. My troops would form a covenant with me, and then I could transfer them strength beyond ages! Though, my enhancements didn’t just affect magical prowess._

Amity waited for more, inching forward in her seat as she gawked down at the page. It was like the book was waiting for a verbal response, because it took a moment to pause before continuing. 

_I’ll take your silence as interest! My covenant with my soldiers provided them with a certain level of uh, ‘inner strength’ you could say. They could trust in themselves through me, giving them the confidence to push forward even in the most dire of straits. A good few became quite the charismatic fellows!_

“Amazing,” Amity whispered out before shaking her head of her astounded stupor. “Your soldiers seem like good men then, I assume?”

_Ah, they were… Some of the best people I ever had, and I was glad to have had them beside me to the end._

Ah, it had slipped her mind that this book was apparently older than the empire itself. “S-sorry, for your loss.” Amity mumbled out apologetically, how did she let that important piece of information about this book fly past her?

_It's long past, don’t worry. I can only hope to honor them by finding suitable people to carry their legacy. Strong witches with serious conviction despite their circumstances._

_Witches, like yourself._

“I’m sorry, what?” 

_I’m quite a good listener, and I’ve heard how Lilith spoke of you. Very high praises, by the way._

Lilith complimented her, the _leader_ of the Emperor’s Coven spoke of her in her free time? The stirring excitement within her distracted her from her initial confusion from Belial’s statement. 

_I was a bit unsure at first, I find that most prodigies are a bit full of themselves. I’ve met quite a few witches that find they don’t need to improve, never practice. But from listening to you speak, you work as if you are behind everyone else, like you don’t have the talent you have._

“Talent?” Amity croaked out, unknowingly moving closer to the book, craning her head down to give her full attention to Belial. Many teachers said she was a talented witch in her studies, but with how far her parents’ shadows loomed over Hexside, she doubted every bit of praise she got. Unless Amity was the top student, it couldn’t be true. 

But here was a book older than anything she had ever known, that probably didn’t even know what a Blight was, telling her that she was capable of exceeding the expectations she had set for herself. 

_Of course, you’re a brilliant witch for your age! And if you were to form a covenant with me, you’ll be so far ahead of your peers that I’m sure you could halve your workload and still get into the Emperor’s Coven._

_However, I would never force you to join me. It would be your decision to form a covenant with me, I can only help those who would help me._

“And what would helping you mean, exactly?” 

_For one? I want out of this book! But in the long term, your help in gaining status in the new Isles would mean I would be able to teach like I did long ago. Perhaps finding some land to start a new life and gain followers to embolden like I would you, though you would stand above all._

_As I get stronger, so will you. It is only fair that you would stand beside me rather than below me, our covenant would be a partnership rather than a pledge._

_What do you think?_

Amity gulped, reading all that was laid upon the pages in front of her. Strength beyond ages? Someone to guide her along the right path? Hell, even just help with her self-confidence? It was too good to be true, and yet it was waving in front of her face like a raw steak to a demon. 

To be able to relax for a minute knowing that she would still be stronger than anyone else was a delicious thought, her admission to the Emperor’s Coven would be guaranteed without her wasting her entire life with her head in a book.

The time she could spend on herself, the people she could talk to without worrying about her public image, the moments she could share with Luz?

Her hands balled up into fists, her body shaking as her mind gathered up all the bad scenarios this could lead to. But then the good ones popped up; a mended relationship with Willow, the top student position with no effort needed, her and Luz hand in hand in their matching white cloaks of the Emperor’s Coven.

The scales tipped and all of a sudden, rational thought was consumed by heavenly ideals.

“What do I need to do?”

A pause, a moment, and then a question scratched itself onto the page.

_How are you with blood?_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again to Kohlns for letting me adapt their idea, and I hope you guys enjoy this!
> 
> By the way, I have a tumblr (secondaryvulpine.tumblr.com) if you guys want to chat about Lumity or AUs! I might post some reference sheets or scene redraws if I can get a decent scribble down.
> 
> Hope you guys liked the chapter!


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